#development

UWW donates mats to Panama Wrestling Federation

By United World Wrestling Press

PANAMA CITY, Panama (June 16) -- United World Wrestling donated two new wrestling mats for the development of wrestling in Panama.

With excellent management from the Panama Olympic Committee and the Panama National Wrestling Federation, together with the Development Department of the UWW, these mats were delivered to Panama.

One of the mats was given to the Barraza Pitbull Club, affiliated with the Panama National Wrestling Federation, and to celebrate such an important contribution to sports development; the club held sports gathering with athletes from the provinces of Cocle, Colon, and Panama at the Jesus Master Gomez Gymnasium in the popular Barraza neighborhood in Panama City.

The new mat will be available for the benefit of children and young sportsmen and athletes of the community. President of the Panama Olympic Committee, Damaris Young was also present at the occasion.

The second donated mat was donated to the Provincial League of Herrera, which will make it available to the wrestlers of the region at the Pepe Osorio Gymnasium in Chitré.

These actions taken by the UWW are an incentive to continue promoting wrestling in countries that do not have significant development in the sport.

All mats in the development mat program are a benefit of the partnership between United World Wrestling and Taishan. For Taishan mats, please contact taishan@taishansports.com.

#UnitedWorldWrestling

Lopez's coach Trujillo Diaz Joins UWW Development Efforts

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (November 28) -- Raul TRUJILLO DIAZ, longtime coach of Olympic champion Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) and recipient of 2025 International Olympic Committee Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award, has signed a development contract with United World Wrestling.

Following Lopez's appointment last year as the UWW Global Wrestling Promotion Ambassador, now Trujillo Diaz will also work with UWW with a focus on youth development, coach education, and high-performance training systems.

During his visit to the UWW in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Trujillo met with UWW President Nenad LALOVIC for an in-depth discussion on the future of the sport. Their conversation addressed coaching standards, talent retention, and sustainable pathways to support athletes from the youth level through elite competition.

UWW

"We all know the importance of having a good coach," Lalovic said. "We need to keep wrestling talents, especially great coaches, within the sport to ensure knowledge sharing and the long-term development of wrestling."

Trujillo’s new responsibilities will complement the work of Lopez who became the first athlete to win five Olympic gold medals in the same sport at Paris 2024. They will contribute to UWW’s global development initiatives as the organization continues its efforts to grow wrestling worldwide and support the next generation of athletes.